One of the more frustrating jobs associated with leaf or grass raking is the need to periodically bend down (or to reverse the orientation of the rake and bring up its head) and reach for the rake head in order to manually clean away material which adheres to the rake tines in the areas between the prongs. This has to be done very often - perhaps after only one or two strokes in the case of certain types of leaves or vegetable garden matter, or when the matter is wet. Repeated stooping is fatiguing and may even be harmful to the back, particularly in the case of elderly gardeners. Bringing the rake head up is also unsatisfactory as it disrupts the normal flow and repetition of the rake strokes.
Much effort, apparently unsuccessful as measured by the lack of known commercialization, has therefore been directed toward developing a rake which is "self-cleaning;" which is to say, one which may be cleaned without the operator either having to stoop down or having to bring the rake head up.
Prior developments in this field will be generally illustrated by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
______________________________________ Patent No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 1,338,459 Moore 04/27/20 1,450,877 Wahlen 04/03/23 1,768,101 Bell 06/24/30 1,780,688 Steinmetz et al. 11/04/30 2,731,784 Noll 01/24/56 ______________________________________
The above patents teach self-cleaning rakes that have racks and similar attachments that move across the prongs of stationary rake tines to clean them. None show means for moving the tines themselves across stationary cleaning means.